Surprising Promises
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Key Verse: “God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” Selected Scripture: |
GOD CALLED ABRAHAM to leave Ur and go to Canaan after he was married to Sarah, though they had no children. Yet the promise of God given to Abraham was that his seed would become a great nation, inherit the land of Canaan, and through this seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed. (Gen. 12:2,3,7; 13:14-17) As time went on, and both Abraham and Sarah grew older, God appeared to Abraham again in a vision to give him words of encouragement: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”—Gen. 15:1
This occurred about ten years after Abraham left Haran, and he expressed his concern about the promises made to him. These involved a seed, but since he was childless he proposed making Eliezer of Damascus his heir to solve the problem. Eliezer was Abraham’s steward, born in his house. God, however, said, “This shall not be thine heir.” (Gen. 15:1-6) Rather, the heir would be a true descendant of Abraham.
Despite Abraham’s continued childless condition, he still had faith in God. His wife, Sarah, suggested that they give God assistance in this matter. She offered Hagar, her handmaid, to Abraham as a wife, and Abraham accepted. Eventually Ishmael was born, who was, indeed, a true flesh and blood heir of Abraham.—Gen. 16:1-5,15,16
By supplying the seed in this manner, problems arose with Hagar, and later with her son, Ishmael. Abraham had thought that the main problem had been solved with the birth of Ishmael. He had accepted him as the promised seed.
When God appeared to Abraham, thirteen years later, he confirmed all the promises made to him, and said that Sarah would be blessed, and would give him a son. This seemed so unbelievable to Abraham, who would be 100 years old when the child arrived, and his wife would be 90, that Abraham laughed. He tried to present Ishmael to God, saying, “O that Ishmael might live before thee!”—Gen. 17:15-19
However impossible this promise may have appeared to Abraham and Sarah, God fulfilled his promise and Sarah bore Abraham a son named Isaac. Isaac was a true ‘miracle child.’ This situation was God’s way of preparing the world of mankind for the advent of a more important ‘miracle child.’ God as the Father implanted in the virgin, Mary, the life of the Logos (Jesus in his prehuman existence), who was born as the baby Jesus. All the Abrahamic promises in their entirety are to be fulfilled through the antitypical Isaac, our Lord Jesus.
Although Abraham and Isaac will be used in Christ’s kingdom as men of faith and administrators of righteousness, the true fulfillment of every facet of these beautiful promises is through Christ. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we “are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” and also, “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:26-29) The Abrahamic promise includes the origin of a great nation through Abraham, and also all the families of the world are to be blessed through him.